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IPL 2019: No excuses for not winning the trophy, only acceptance of the fact that we have not won: Virat Kohli

Royal Challengers captain Virat Kohli on Friday (March 22) had two slippery questions to negate. Has he been left with a heavy heart after not winning the IPL title over the last 12 seasons?

IPL 2019: No excuses for not winning the trophy, only acceptance of the fact that we have not won: Virat Kohli

Chennai, March 22: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli on Friday (March 22) had two slippery questions to negate. Has he been left with a heavy heart after not winning the IPL title over the last 12 seasons?

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How will the Indian players, particularly those who are certain the England-bound flight for the ICC World Cup 2019, manage their workload? Kohli gave detailed answers to each of those questions ahead of their opening encounter against defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday (March 23).

Virat Kohli on RCB still not winning a trophy

Virat Kohli on RCB still not winning a trophy

On not winning the IPL title: "I don't really care whether I am judged on this or not. There is no real parameter on which you have to tick all the boxes. I try to win all the time, win all the possible titles, sometimes it just does not happen. We have to be practical on why we have not won, basically, it boiled down to bad decision making on pressure situations. I know people outside talk a lot about this and I have given a responsibility here and given a chance I would like to win the IPL like any other captain for my team. But no excuses for not winning the IPL, only acceptance of the fact that we have not won. The fact that we have played six semifinals and ahead is a testimony to the fact that we are a team always in contention. We need better decision making."

What it takes to win the IPL

What it takes to win the IPL

On what it takes to win the IPL: We need to have composure in tough situations. All the teams that have won IPL have either defended a total of 150 or chased a big total. In those teams, at least a couple of guys put their hands up and say today we are going to perform for the team. In the past, when the opportunity arrived for us to win the title we expected for the game to go in a certain way and not create situations from which we could win the match. And that's one thing we are going to correct this year. Doesn't matter how we win, we want to keep up an attitude that helps win the game. If it looks ugly let it be. We don't want to be a team that plays flamboyant cricket and entertain people. We want to be a consistent side.

Managing workload

Managing workload

On managing the workload ahead of WC 2019: From a personal point of view, I am motivated to go out tomorrow. I don't know how the other members of the Indian team are playing. Every professional knows how to maintain a balance, Till the time you play, you give your 100 per cent. When you don't play, you don't play. I don't believe in staying on the ground and giving only 70 to 80 per cent. When I want to rest I might rather not play the game. I think the guys are going to be smart around this. That's the feedback from the players. They are going to choose wisely.

"We have told them to be smart, be smart in reporting to the physios as soon as possible and then to the national physio and having conversations around it then figuring it out whether that guy can go ahead and play or not or how much rest that player needs. If he has given a plan then he has to respect it."

RCB-CSK rivalry

RCB-CSK rivalry

On playing against Chennai at their home: "Every team playing against Chennai in Chennai is considered underdogs. Because they have done so well at home and MS knows what exactly what he wants out of his team. We have taken those things into consideration. We are going to be backing our skills and analyse the situations to come on top of them. It's easy to get overawed by the support they get and but we need to focus on the game. I think IPL is sort of a tournament where players get carried away by the occasion. They forget to focus on the basics. We need to stay in the present to give CSK a tough fight."

Story first published: Friday, March 22, 2019, 21:18 [IST]
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